Last year’s Lang & Heyne Georg debuted a new style of movement for the brand, distinguished by rounded, polished steel cocks for the barrel, gear train and balance wheel. Though inspired by similar movements found in vintage pocket watches, the movement is novel in modern watchmaking.

The same movement forms the base of the calibre inside the Anton, the first Lang & Heyne wristwatch tourbillon. The case is the same as the one found on the Georg, inspired by rectangular German watches from the 1930s.

The case remains 40mm by 32mm, with a height of 9.4mm. It’s a manageable size, though the shape, especially the signature triple lugs, and vertical case sides give it a chunky feel.

Made of fired white enamel, the dial is made up of two parts – the main dial and a sunken seconds chapter ring around the tourbillon. That’s matched with hand-made, blued steel hands, which altogether give the watch a classical feel reminiscent of pocket watches that’s typical of the brand.

Much of Lang & Heyne’s watchmaking is inspired by historical German timepieces, and so it is for the lyre-shaped tourbillon cage, which is modelled on the tourbillons made by Alfred Helwig, the Glashütte-born watchmaker who invented the flying tourbillon. The cage is made of steel, and like most steel parts in Lang & Heyne movements, it is slim and refined. Relative to the size of the watch, however, the tourbillon feels relatively small.

The view from the back is more engaging, with the beautifully finished cocks giving the movement a tremendous amount of depth. While the steel cocks are the most prominent feature of the movement, the smaller elements of the movement are equally well finished. That includes the polished teeth on the barrel ratchet and winding wheels, and the winding click and spring.

Notably, all of the wheels are of the gear train are hardened 18k pink gold, which is why they are a different shade from the yellow gold-plated, frosted base plate.

And because all Lang & Heyne movements have a diamond end stone on the balance cock, a feature that was not feasible on the tourbillon, the base plate has two diamond inlaid on each of the top corners.

Price and availability

The Anton tourbillon is priced at €86,100 in 18k gold (either white or rose) and €98,700 in platinum, excluding taxes. It’s available direct from Lang & Heyne or its retailers, including The Lavish Attic in Hong Kong that serves clients in North and South-East Asia.